A member (R) of HCMC-based pharmaceutical firm Aikya Pharma hands out face masks at the National Lung Hospital in Hanoi – PHOTO: AIKYA PHARMA

HCMC – Aikya Pharma, in collaboration with Vietnam-Oman Investment (VOI), donated more than 20,000 medical masks on February 13 to the northern province of Vinh Phuc, which has been hit the hardest with 10 cases of novel coronavirus infections.

VOI is the joint venture between the State General Reserve Fund of Oman and the State Capital Investment Corporation of Vietnam.

Aside from the virus-hit province, the HCMC-based pharmaceutical firm Aikya Pharma also expanded this free mask program to many other localities and major hospitals across the country.

Some hospitals that have benefited from the program include the Vietnam-German Hospital and the Central Lung Hospital, both based in Hanoi; a facility of the Vietnam-German Hospital in HCMC; the Cai Lay General Hospital in the southern province of Tien Giang; and the Tra Vinh General Hospital in its namesake province.

Between February 4 and 12, Aikya Pharma donated more than 270,000 face masks, of which 50,000 were given to the Border Guard High Command, 50,000 to the Ministry of Public Security’s units and 20,000 to a field hospital under the Hanoi Capital High Command. Also, 30,000 masks were given to the National Assembly Television Channel.

A representative of Aikya Pharma stated that the firm is suspending sales of medical masks to the retail market to focus on supplying the masks to key units in charge of the prevention of infection as well as on distributing free face masks to hospitals, schools and airports to help the community avoid the disease.

Ha Ngoc Son, chairman of Aikya Pharma, remarked that the firm is trying to mobilize more personnel to boost production and distribute more face masks.

“Production capacity has now tripled, and we just installed a new production line on February 12. We expect to provide more masks to support units with the greatest need,” he said.

Aikya Pharma has pledged to donate and distribute face masks until the deadly epidemic is curtailed, he confirmed.

Dinh Van Luong, deputy director of the National Lung Hospital, noted that the number of patients admitted to the hospital has been high so far this year, ranging from 700-800. The hospital also has to hold 1,000 physicians and medical workers and the large number of patients’ relatives.

“All of them need to be equipped with face masks, so this aid from Aikya Pharma is extremely meaningful,” remarked the doctor.

Vietnam has so far reported 16 cases of infections, seven of which have been cleared of the virus and discharged from hospitals. The northern province of Vinh Phuc has been stricken with a cluster of 11 infection cases. A local village of some 10,000 people was put into quarantine there.